Quote:
Originally Posted by GH85Carrera
My MIL is named Bertha. Not a young person's name. That is the name on the title of the car.
I took her car into the Mercedes dealership for a warranty service. They called me after the had the car for a while. They said the front brakes are shot, the struts need to be replaced, the rear end is leaking and several thousand bucks of repairs are really needed to keep the car safe. I told them to finish ONLY the authorized service and none of the things they called about.
I got it home and the brakes still had 80% of the pad, the struts were fine and the car was in perfect shape. She drove it another 50,000 miles on those same brakes. She drives like a little old lady going to church, which is about the perfect description for her.
I was really stunned they dealership tried that. I called the service manager and let him know I was unhappy with his BS. He said they fired that service writer that day. I hope they really did.
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Unfortunately, this is just the business model for luxury car dealerships these days. If they were completely honest and only advised people to do repairs that were actually necessary, they'd go out of business tomorrow with their new $10 million buildings and cappuccino lounges, etc.
I remember being in the service department of Beverly Hills MB back in the '90s when my GF had a new leased S-class. The "advisor" came to the customer lounge and told her that she needed new brake pads and rotors for some outrageous price. I asked if I could see the brakes, of course they had the car on a lift with the wheels off since they were simply getting her approval to do the work?
Well, the guy was clearly appalled that I wanted to see the brakes, clearly this was not SOP at BHMB and of course I was questioning, (or at least verifying), their integrity. He had no choice but to walk me back to the car where at eye level I could see that the rotors were perfect and the pads had 75+% left.
I asked them why they were trying to rip-off an unassuming woman customer, etc. They were squirming like a worm on a fish hook and really had no answer. It was disgusting. This was before the Internet, (at least for me), so there was no way to put them on blast for it, I just started watching their recommendations like a hawk. If I hadn't been there, she would have OK'd the work and they would have done a walletectomy on her for $2k or something.
I know people with new Mercedes or Range Rovers who are so rich that they Just. Don't. Care. Getting ripped-off for a few grand every time they bring their car in is just some luxury tax for being a big shot and driving the expensive POS. For the rest of us, it's an ass-raping.
